This is a study of the impact of economic
reforms on hunger-prone people in three of the world's poorest countries
- Malawi, Zambia and Ethiopia. Its primary purpose is to assess whether
food security has improved or worsened, and why.

These three states are among the large
number of developing countries that have promoted extensive liberalization
of their economies over the past 15 or so years, under the auspices of
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Hundreds of thousands of people have so
far been rendered homeless in several parts of east Africa, where heavy
rains and floods have wreaked havoc over the past few weeks.

Many people have been killed by the floods,
and more than 300,000 people are reported have been affected. These numbers
are expected to rise as heavy rains continue to pound all over east Africa,
particularly in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

Roughly 11 million people are currently
threatened with starvation in Eastern Africa. "These people have waited
two years for rain to fall, and cannot wait any longer," says Kari Øyen.

The region has been affected by serious
drought since late 2005 when the short rainy season failed, leaving water
reserves dry and forcing the population to ration the little water they
have available yet more strictly. The crisis stretches across large areas
of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.